On Saturday March 28th, “No Kings” protests grew over the U.S. as many civilians took to the streets to call out President Donald Trump’s policies. The first protest was held on June 14, 2025, which was Trump’s 79th birthday; this was the third protest since the last one back in October. Since then, Trump’s policies regarding immigration, LGBTQ+ rights, Palestine, the Epstein files, the war in Iran, and many more have gone on for too long. The majority of the protests remained peaceful, but some arrests were made.
I wasn’t able to go to my local protest, but I saw many friends and influencers online using their voices and platforms to spread the message. I didn’t know there was going to be another “No Kings” protest until the last minute. I felt bad because I’ve been wanting to attend one of these protests but never got the chance. Even though I wasn’t able to attend the protest, I still felt connected to the protest as I watched videos and live streams. From the videos I’ve seen of the protests, many of them had music from different cultures, which builds community.
It was interesting seeing the discourse about if the protest was helpful or not. Some consider the protest to be performative. I can see where people would think it is performative, because people show up to the protest with a flashy or humorous sign, post on their Instagram story, and then leave. Yes, you’re there, but your actions aren’t authentic; it’s more for brownie points. Some comments online have stated that these protests don’t create change and there needs to be more acts of sustained resistance, organization, and pressure for a long period of time. And I have to agree. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s amazing that we have these protests. I mean it’s one of the largest protests in U.S. history with more than 8 million people participating and spreading their message. But having these protests spread out over 4-6 months waiting, for things to get worse is not the greatest move. There needs to be other methods of resistance and creating change. For example, the protests shouldn’t be on a Saturday. I understand more people are off from work and school that day but going out and protesting during the week would show more urgency and create a stronger message. Creating a disruption during peak business days demands more attention and draws a large audience. Consistency is what these officials will see; if they notice that the protests are temporary, they won’t respond. The government would see these people are willing to skip work and school to show up on their doorstep to protest. These officials would have no other choice but to face the people. I think this type of action is very hard to ignore.
Another thing is that these protests fade out so quickly. There’s a lot of momentum around them when it happens and maybe a couple days after, but then it’s forgotten. This type of cycle makes it hard for pressure to be maintained over time. Now, this is definitely easier said than done, but we have to start somewhere in order to see this type of change. If people truly care about the issues being protested, then that energy shouldn’t be put into a single day of protesting. In order to see this though, we have to start locally, vote in your local elections, attend town meetings, be informed with what’s happening in your community, and don’t post an Instagram story and call it a day. The “No Kings” protests are important, but the conversation shouldn’t end there.